How do you turn a .com domain into a wordpress website and get traffic?

[Michael]

I bought a .com at Go Daddy. What is the cheapest way to actually have a web site that shows on in searches?

My buddy said use word press but I do not know how. My domain was only .99 for a year but how to I get hosting now, do I need hosting?

[Jake]

There are a number of free web sits hosts that allow a custom domain name to be used, a blog platform is a good place to start since there is essentially no programming required it's more like filling in forms. Wordpress is the industry standard platform with lots of free and paid design themes and function plugins available (some 17% of the top 1 Million sites use it). Wordpress,com is one free host providing a slightly limited version that
I believe charges a fee to a custom domain name. The majority of wordpress sites are used on paid hosting accounts, a typical 'unlimited' shared hosting account costs $8/mo, allowing you to add as many sites as you want and protecting you from free hosts than can delete your account on a whim.
One very popular alternative is Google Blogger.com, there are no paid upgrades and few editorial restrictions, it does use a proprietary engine, so when you relocate your domain name more site rebuilding effort would be required.
To see samples of the style of blogger sites, try Google searching:
site:blogspot.com intitle:"your interest"

[J]

Jake gave you a good answer.

You should consider a host away from Godaddy as i find it best to have sites registered at one place and hosting at another.

if you need inexpensive hosting, try uk cheap hosts, they have a 'value pack' plan that is under $20 per year and it is good enough for most sites to start with for a couple years. here is a link, and NO its not an affiliate link

http://ukcheaphosts.com

[Rujaun]

Yes you need hosting. Hosting WordPress privately is a better option than using wordpress.org if you want to make use of ads and custom plugins. Allot of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) plugins can't be run on wordpress.org so I would suggest getting a host and use one of their 1 Click installers to install a ready to use instance of WordPress.

If you struggle you can follow my "How to WordPress" series that shows how to that step by step:
http://www.runningwordpress.net

You will need to get you're domain pointed to the server you wish to host your blog. Go Daddy can help with that if you ask their support.

Regards